In recent times, the internet has given people unlimited accesss to  informations than ever before. But, people are no longer just searching the web on a desktop – they are using laptops, smartphones, tablets, and even smart TVs. What this means is that your website will be viewed from all different mediums and therefore you need to ensure that the design is responsive.

A responsive website design is therefore a website that adapts itself to fit any screen, making viewership seamless between various media. Meaning, your website will morph to fit the screen in which it is being viewed from. It negates the need to pinch or scroll horizontally and overall provides visitors with a great UX while on your site.

Bad  web design can affect your brand and sales

Users have become accustomed to fast loading and visually appealing sites, no matter where they’re accessing the internet from. They’ve become so accustomed to this that 40% of users will actually abandon a web page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load and 70% will immediately delete emails that don’t render properly on their mobile devices. Additionally, 38% will actually stop engaging with a site that has an unattractive layout. So, right there you can already see how not having a responsive website design can lead to losing visitors and ultimately decrease conversions on your site.

Your website’s design has an even bigger impact than you may think, in fact, 94% cited that bad website designs are the main reason they mistrust or reject a website altogether. Additionally, almost half of users, 48%, consider web design as the number one factor in determining a business’s credibility. This highlights how important your website is when it comes to brand satisfaction and overall trustworthiness among consumers.

Benefits of a good web design

We know that not having a responsive design will hinder your business, but what exactly are the benefits of implementing this type of design onto your site? Well, for starters, 45% of users aged 18-29 are using their smartphones daily to search the web and 70% of mobile searches lead to an action within an hour. So, your new responsive website will be tapping into the market of the younger generations while also providing better conversion rates.

Do you have an e-commerce site? Well, a responsive website design can be extremely lucrative to your business. Four out of five consumers shop online using their smartphones and 67% of online shoppers are more likely to buy from mobile-friendly sites. In fact, 64% of websites that have created a tablet-friendly site and 62% that have created a mobile-friendly site saw their sales increase after doing so.

Another benefit of being responsive is your increased SEO. Google rolled out an algorithm that actually prioritized responsive sites, so sites without a mobile-friendly site are being ranked lower than those who do. Additionally, the sheer fact of how popular mobile devices have become for browsing the web supports the need to provide impeccable UX on all platforms.

What you need to know

Not developing a responsive website design will lead to some serious damage to your business. Users visiting a site with slow load times will be turned away and if your site’s content is all jumbled while they’re on their phone, they’ll more than likely think your business isn’t credible. Therefore, re-designing your website to be responsive will lead to increased conversion, a better placement on search engines and provide an overall better UX. The Internet moves fast, and if you’re not caught up on responsive website designs then you’re going to continue to stay below the curve and ultimately hinder your business.